Saturday, 22 October 2022 – President Joe Biden has criticized rival Republicans for suggesting to reduce US funding for Ukraine if they win congressional midterm elections next month.
Senior Republican Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday that if his party makes widely expected gains in the midterms, it will not write “a blank check” to war-torn Ukraine.
The warning was the first official signal that Kyiv could face a tougher fight for US funding as it fends off Russia’s invasion, with bipartisan support beginning to wane in Washington.
McCarthy hopes to become House speaker if Republicans take over the House of Representatives in the November 8 vote, and the House Speaker is responsible for signing off budgets passed by the house.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion in February, the United States has allocated $17.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine — although this is a fraction of the total bill including humanitarian assistance.
Biden, reacting to McCarthy’s warning said on Thursday, October 20:
“They said that if they win they’re not likely to fund, to continue to fund Ukraine,” Biden said while campaigning in Pennsylvania.
“These guys don’t get it. It’s a lot bigger than Ukraine. It’s Eastern Europe. It’s NATO. It’s really serious, serious consequential outcomes.
“They have no sense of American foreign policy.”
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